Day 1 of the housebuild (Monday): A photo-op before getting started.
There is no running water here so a water truck comes periodically to fill everyone's water barrels. The covered area in the background holds the barrel and also is where clothes are washed with a washboard.
A few minutes of instruction ...
Building trusses ...
Framing ...
Preparing for lunch ...
We advertised on Monday that we were going to do puppet skits for the next three days.
Lifting the first wall ...
Lunch or pets?
The Pacific Ocean was just across the street from where we stayed.
Day 2 (Tuesday): Playing with the kids ...
The structure on the right is the original house, a two-room building. The family of six sleeps in one room and uses the other room as the kitchen. They will keep this structure after the new house is built.
This is one of the many families that our Mexican family helped. We heard from the neighbors that our family never turns people away from their door if they are hungry. They would all just share and eat a little less.
Our translator asked Jose Luis, the father, why he was helping us all week and not working in the fields. He said he thought it was more important to help us (who came to help him) than to eat for a few days.
Cookies are good in any country.
Vacation Bible School (VBS)
We gave out school supplies after VBS. One little girl came up with her box of crayons and asked, "Can we take these home?" She hadn't understood that they were free.
American ice cream!
A view of the road from the doorstep of the ice cream shop
Check out page 1, page 3, or page 4 of the Mexico Housebuilding Trip by Sisters in Christ or see other May Valley photo albums here.